Twisted Love
by MaelstromBankai
Summary: Man seeks peace, yet at the same time yearning for war… Those are the two realms belonging to every sentient being, expressed through man. Thinking of peace whilst spilling blood is something both gods and humans can do. They're two sides of the same coin. To protect something… another must be sacrificed. The gods dance to the strings of fate...but there are no strings on me.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own NOTHING!**

 **Prologue**

* * *

Ōtsutsuki Kaguya stared at the child sleeping in her arms, a tired yet warm smile on her face. Even though her body yearned for rest, she continued to watch the child sleep silently, relishing in the very sensation of carrying her child.

Her smile widened.

 _Her child_.

Oh, she couldn't contain the joy that bubbled up inside her at those words. Each time she laid her eyes on him, her heart leapt with a pleasant tingle. It was so strange, so very strange that mere hours ago she had been wishing for him to not be conceived. Looking back, it was almost like seeing someone else put words and actions in her head.

She had requested privacy for the remainder of the night, allowing her subjects to retire and rest. She recalled the bright glints in their eyes as they left, no doubt excited by her son and itching to spread the news to others. Normally she would've made them swear to keep quiet, at least for a few days, but she no longer cared.

Her eyes were drawn to her son's form, just content to forever capture his sleeping visage. Even though they were closed, she could easily recall the stunning blue eyes that made her heart melt further. It had surprised her for a moment, since she had believed that most characteristics he would develop would be from her, but it didn't diminish her love for him.

Still, thoughts of that nature led to thoughts of her son's father, and such thoughts led her to sigh heavily. Honestly speaking, the fact that she had been blessed with a child shouldn't excuse the fact that Amos had essentially used her. The man had been a very charming person, able to set her heart thundering with a few words, and had managed to worm his way through her barriers and into her heart.

One night, one she remembered with a frustrating mix of regret, anger and longing, she had allowed herself to take their relationship to a more intimate level. It had been a fairly normal day, with her wasting time away in his presence, which eventually culminated in a night of passion. Even as a smoldering of anger and pain bubbled at the memory, she couldn't deny that Amos had driven her to entirely new plateaus of pleasure.

The following morning, she had woken to find him gone. She had searched frantically, scouring the lands with her all-seeing eyes…but Amos was nowhere to be found. That day, the heavens joined her as she wept.

As her heart throbbed painfully, she wrenched herself from the memories and firmly cradled her newborn. She refused to let those thoughts of Amos resurface again, placing a gentle kiss on the sleeping babe's brow.

So what if he had broken her heart? So what if he had seduced her, plundered her and left when he was satisfied? Amos was gone, and she couldn't give a damn about him. Not when she had a child to care for. Not when _her son_ needed her.

Of course, that wasn't to say that she would let the bastard go without some form of payback. However, since she now had a son to take care of, she doubted that she'd be able to search him out.

However…she didn't want her son to grow up without experiencing a father's love. As she felt the weight of her son, her mind went to her father.

Ah well…she'd cross that bridge when she got there. Smiling happily, she closed her eyes and basked in the warmth of her child.

* * *

As she carried little Naruto around their new home, taking in the beautiful sights of the land, Kaguya felt like humming a tune for no particular reason. Sure, Naruto demanded quite a bit of attention that she may have underestimated, but taking care of her child was rapidly eclipsing her personal favorite thing to do and she wouldn't have it any other way.

A week had passed since she had given birth, and many of her subjects had noticed certain fundamental changes to her. The cold, blank face she usually had was slowly defrosting to reveal a warmth that took everyone by surprise. She was a bit more lenient as well, though that could be because she was keeping a close eye on Naruto most of the time.

Her son was a very energetic baby; he slept a lot, like most newborns, but whenever he was awake he would always move about and interact with his strange environment. Kaguya could clearly remember how nervous she had been as she literally hovered over him as he played with the huge number of stuffed animals and toys she had made for him. He

Now, wearing a plain sleeveless dress and walking barefoot, she carried Naruto about the little home she had constructed. It was a simple two-story building, made from the natural materials in the area and brought to life by her own power.

With her son being now the highest priority on her list, she had opted to relocate from the kingdom to a quiet place near the forest of the Shinju. Even with the peaceful times they lived in, she was adept enough at sensing emotions to pick out a number of…unhealthy thoughts some of her subjects were developing towards her son.

Honestly, it was as if they had all forgotten that she was the Rabbit Goddess. She wasn't sure if she should be amused or not at that.

Feeling his tiny hands grab her hair, she laughed to herself as she pried her hair from them before he got the idea to try munching on it. "Sorry Naruto," she giggled when he reached out for the shiny strange stuff, distracting him with her fingers, "but you can't eat Kaa-san's hair."

Her smile widened when her son immediately set about munching on her finger. He just looked so adorable trying to eat her finger, his toothless mouth trying to gnaw even though he clearly couldn't. Gathering a trickle of chakra, she breathed life into the image she held and materialized a baby pacifier from nothingness. Holding it out to her son, who immediately stopped trying to bite her as soon as he caught sight of her Ying-Yang Release, she dangled it teasingly before him. "Come on, Naru-chan. Why don't you try those gums of yours on this?"

Naruto apparently decided that the new thing in front of him was more interesting, and reached out for the pacifier. Sliding the tool into his mouth, Kaguya placed another kiss on Naruto's cheek. It was something she had found herself doing, giving him several kisses everyday with no particular reasoning. Kanna, one of her handmaidens, had said that it was natural for most new mothers and she could certainly see why.

Naruto gurgled in what she assumed to be happiness, suckling on the pacifier contently. A nearby butterfly caught his attention, and he swiveled his head about to keep it in his sight.

Kaguya chuckled.

* * *

"Listen to me!"

Kaguya scowled harshly, glaring down at Aphrodite. "For the last time, I refuse!"

The shouts had been echoing throughout the room for the past fifteen minutes, though Kaguya had made sure to move their 'discussion' to one of the empty rooms to avoid disturbing Naruto's long nap. To make certain, she had made sure to have one Zetsu stationed in her room to keep an eye on him.

Aphrodite took several steps forward, her beautiful features twisted into a scowl. "Kaguya, just listen to what I have to say! The Prophecy speaks of our son, and I-"

" _ **My**_ son. Not _"ours"_." Kaguya's words were positively frosty, her eyes glaring with hate.

"LISTEN TO ME!" Aphrodite refused to back down, glaring just as heatedly at Kaguya. "Even if you run, sooner or later Zeus will find you and he'll bring the might of Olympus to bear! Please, just let me help you!"

For a tense moment there was silence. The two women stared at one another, anger, doubt and worry evident in their eyes.

"…Get out."

* * *

 _Give him strength._

 _Give him power._

 _Give him wisdom._

 _Give him control._

 _Give him speed._

 _Give him skill._

 _I entrust everything to him._

 _My people,_

 _My memories,_

 _My love._

 _Protect him. Nurture him. Make him a man of legend._

 _I entrust him to you, Black Zetsu._

 _And finally,_

 _My dear, sweet son,_

 _Forgive me._

 _There won't be a next time…_

* * *

 **A/N: No, I'm not done with my papers yet. I'll be done on 10th June, so you'll just have to wait.**

 **The numerous time skips will be explained in due time, as will everything else.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I own NOTHING!**

 **Chapter 1**

* * *

The manticore froze. For a moment, no one moved. There was only the swirl of snow and wind and the chopping of the helicopter blades in the distance. "No," Dr. Thorn said. "It cannot be—"

His sentence was cut short when something shot past like a streak of moonlight. A glowing silver arrow sprouted from Dr. Thorn's shoulder. He staggered backward, wailing in agony.

"Curse you!" Thorn cried. He unleashed his spikes, dozens of them at once, into the woods where the arrow had come from, but just as fast, silvery arrows shot back in reply. It almost looked like the arrows had intercepted the thorns in midair and sliced them in two. No one, not even Apollo's children at camp Half-Blood, could shoot with that much accuracy.

From his vantage point, the hidden observer scowled at the scenario. At this rate, he would have to abandon his hands-off policy if he wanted to salvage the di Angelos.

The manticore pulled the arrow out of his shoulder with a howl of pain. His breathing was heavy. The male demigod, who had been captured by the manticore, tried to swipe at him with his sword, but Thorn wasn't as injured as he looked. He dodged my attack and slammed his tail into my shield, knocking me aside.

Then the archers came from the woods. They were girls, about a dozen of them. The youngest was maybe ten. The oldest, about fourteen, like the demigods. They wore silvery ski parkas and jeans, and they were all armed with bows. They advanced on the manticore with determined expressions.

"The Hunters!" One of the demigoddesses cried.

A sigh of frustration passed from his lips. All the work he had put into remaining under the radar of Olympus would definitely be wasted...but it was expected. Just because he wouldn't be able to remain hidden throughout the war didn't mean that he couldn't improvise.

 _'Besides…'_ His eyes, strange and powerful, grew cold at the sight of the female archers, _'_ _I might not get another chance like this again.'_

One of the older archers stepped forward with her bow drawn. She was tall and graceful with coppery colored skin. Unlike the other girls, she had a silver circlet braided into the top of her long dark hair, so she looked like some kind of Persian princess. "Permission to kill, my lady?"

The observer couldn't tell who she was talking to, because she kept her eyes on the manticore, but he didn't particularly care. He tensed, shifting from reclining against a branch to crouched and prepared to jump. He felt his power thrum in his coils, the potent chakra already manifesting.

The monster wailed. "This is not fair! Direct interference! It is against the Ancient Laws."

"Not so," another girl said. This one was a little younger than the others, maybe twelve or thirteen. She had auburn hair gathered back in a ponytail and strange eyes, silvery yellow like the moon. Her face was so beautiful it made one catch their breath, but her expression was stern and dangerous. "The hunting of all wild beasts is within my sphere. And you, foul creature, are a wild beast." She looked at the older girl with the circlet. "Zoe, permission granted."

He had no need to concentrate; after all, the chakra flowing through him was not stolen or borrowed. All he needed to do was visualize the weapons he desired. His chakra, a light blue colour, appeared in sword shape; in a circumference of five meters, several similarly constructed chakra swords appeared, hidden within the woods.

"Fire!" The order prompted the archers to let loose their volley, confident that they would down the manticore.

So they, as well as the demigods watching, found themselves startled when several flashes of light intercepted their arrows in the same manner they had done to the Manticore's projectiles. There was stunned silence, albeit for a moment. Everyone stared at the glowing ethereal blades, each of them sticking out of the earth proudly.

Thorn, also surprised by the unexpected rescue, was one of the first to recover. Snarling, he retreated to create space and seemingly glared into the woods. "I told you that I required no support! Fool!"

"Oh? Would you rather I let them kill you instead?" All eyes turned to face the young man approaching. "And what would your master say if you returned empty-handed?"

He was tall, towering over all except the manticore. His jet-black hair was long, with bangs covering most of his face's left half. He donned a black coat with a white shirt underneath it, a purple belt, black pants, sandals and dark blue finger-less gloves.

His right eye, the one visible to everyone, was evil. There was no other way to describe it; it was characterized by a ripple-like pattern which spread over the eyeball, with a light purple sclerae and irides, containing a pattern of nine commas that lazily rotated.

The Hunters wasted no time, and quickly readied their weapons at the strange man.

The swords stuck in the ground reacted instantly; flashing out of the earth and spinning about, the chakra blades aimed themselves at the archers and the demigods. There were several surprised exclamations as the children found themselves staring at a hovering weapon that could easily end their lives.

The tension increased when the girl from before, the one who had granted the Hunters permission to kill Thorn, stepped forward with glowing eyes. "You dare point a weapon at my Hunters, demigod?" Her voice had gained an edge to it, clearly expressing what she would do to him for his actions.

He narrowed his eyes at the goddess. "Yes...just as your Hunters dared to hunt my friends." Several more swords appeared, seamlessly manifesting in the clearing, and pointed at the di Angelo twins, who were clutching each other and watching with frightened eyes.

"You two," they both trembled when he addressed them, as four swords flashed over to their position and aimed themselves, "Come with me, and you won't die today." Looking back at the goddess, he continued, "And if you and your hand-maidens try anything, every maiden in this clearing will die."

To enhance the threat, the swords around the demigoddesses and Hunters gleamed and blitzed forward, stopping just a thread away from striking their throats. A young Hunter, looking around the age of ten, let out a scared whimper and nearly dropped her bow.

 _'_ _A new recruit,_ _huh_ _?_ _'_ Perfect. There was no way the Goddess of the Hunt would allow one of her Hunters, a new one at that, be killed. The little goddess clenched her fists, but he felt no fear; the minute he had proved that he could kill all the maidens here, she wouldn't order an attack if it meant a possible Hunter were to die.

The second in command, Zoe, was glaring at him with disgust.

Thorn, who had shifted back to the human form he had, folded his arms in grudging respect. While it chafed at his abilities, he had to admit that the Castellan boy had been right in insisting that the anomaly come along. Grabbing his phone, the manticore turned to speak into it.

The helicopter which had been steadily approaching then came into view, just as the di Angelo siblings finally reached him. Nico, the younger brother, had tears welling in his eyes and was trying to not cry for his sister's sake. Bianca was holding him close to herself, just as scared as he was but holding herself together as best as she could.

He glanced at them, then back to the others. "Get in the chopper. If any of you try shooting us down…," At that moment, he let a bit of his true feelings leak out. Killing Intent wafted around the clearing, not thick but with enough presence to put them on edge. "I'll kill these two."

Bianca's head snapped up to gaze in horror at his casual threat. When he shifted his eye towards her, she swallowed her rising fear and half-dragged, half-guided Nico into the helicopter. Climbing into the chopper, she gave the demigod one last look before disappearing with her brother.

As Thorn followed suit, he sneered in the direction of the demigods.

The young man soon followed, the ethereal weapons preventing anyone from attempting to stop him. And so the helicopter took off, leaving the demigods to wallow in their failure.

* * *

Five minutes after the chopper had taken off, Thorn glanced at the young man calmly resting against the seats. "I must say, I'm rather surprised at how useful you turned out to be. That Castellan brat may be a fool, but it seems even he has moments of insight."

The young man ignored the first part of Thorn's sentence, keeping an eye on the demigods sitting by him. "I wouldn't go that far, but that's just my opinion." He had only met Castellan a few times, but each of those meetings had only solidified his initial impression of him: a bitter child, blindly lashing out towards the world instead of focusing his hatred towards the god responsible.

The boy tried to hide his intentions with talk of creating a better future for all demigods, but his eyes could see the truth the boy denied. It was truly vexing to see the demigod go on and on about overthrowing the gods for their attitude towards their children, when his purpose and drive came from his father's lack of interaction.

" _Luke Castellan's only worth is his weak mind. It's so easy to warp and twist him into believing that you want him to...its ironic that a son of the God of Thieves would be easy to manipulate."_ The voice was warm, yet powerful and old. It was one that he likened to temptation; friendly and pleasing to hear, ever when it guided one on the path to ruin.

He made no outward reaction at the foreign voice. _'You're awake? That's surprising; I would've expected you to start stirring much later.'_

" _My, such an indifferent tone you have. You make it sound like all I do is slumber."_

 _'Its hard to be anything but indifferent when all you do is sleep. Even your little suggestions are done while you sleep, so you can't argue with that point.'_

Thorn snorted, his mismatched eyes rolling. "I suppose you're right, Ōtsutsuki. The General would be better of without the brat mouthing off every now and then, but the Crooked One made it clear that he is to be included in planning our course of attack."

Ōtsutsuki Naruto just closed his eye, already knowing that Thorn would go off on another rant about Castellan. "I'm sure he has his own reasons for incorporating Castellan; he wouldn't be known as the Crooked One if his schemes were simple to decipher. By the way, how long will this journey last?"

Thorn shrugged. "At least an hour, if I recall."

Naruto perked up at that and gave the mortals piloting the helicopter a glance. "I see...then this is where we must part ways."

"Wha-" Thorn turned, only for pain to explode in his chest. Releasing a beastly howl, the beast clawed at his chest in desperation, his lengthening claws scratching uselessly at the bone weapon embedded in his heart. He tried to rise up, but the action only sent him tumbling to the floor and clutching his wounded chest.

Nico screamed and Bianca quickly blocked his sight, pushing herself and her brother as far away from the dying Thorn as they could. She couldn't help but stare as the manticore began to visibly decompose, morbid fascination keeping her eyes locked unto the rapidly expanding hole in front of her.

"W-Why?" Thorn looked up to see the disinterested gaze of Naruto bearing down upon him.

"Unfortunately, you've outlived your use. I can't say it was a pleasure Thorn, but it was satisfying to stab you." He watched the manticore decompose with no emotion, already weaving an illusion on the pilots to ignore anything that was occurring at the back.

After ensuring that he had all his bases covered, he glanced towards the di Angelos. Bianca flinched, gripping Nico tightly against herself while he continued to cry against her. "Both of you stay there and don't move." he ordered.

Moving towards the pilots, he unceremoniously grabbed the co-pilot's jaw and a black chakra rod casually shot out from his palm and into the person's jaw. As the man slumped in his seat, bleeding profusely, Naruto placed his palm against the neck of the pilot and nodded in satisfaction as a sealing matrix spread all over the man's body.

"Alright, that's done." Shuffling towards the children, ignoring the way they tensed when he drew nearer, he grabbed their arms firmly. "Try not to lose your lunch."

With no other explanation, the siblings screamed as a rift in the fabric of space opened and swallowed them.

* * *

 **A/N: Short first chapter, mostly just so you get a taste of Naruto's character in this fic. Next chapters will be longer, I promise.**

 **Naruto's appearance isn't his true one. He looks like Sasuke because he needed a disguise; for those that don't like it, wait till the next chapter.**

 **Naruto's abilities in the clearing were a mixture of Vergil's Summoned Swords and Shirou's Unlimited Blade Works. Hope you liked them!**

 **Now, if it isn't too much to ask, I'd like you all to check out this trope: 'The Unfettered'. I'm asking you to do this because that trope will be used primarily in regards to Naruto's character. While I won't use every feature in the trope's description, it would make things easier for you when the next few chapters arrive.**

 **Read and Review,**

 **MaelstromBankai.**


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